Hose-coupling.



No. 758,627. PATENTED MAY 3, 1904. T. P. DOWNING. HOSE COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 16, 1904.

ISBEETB-SHEET 1.

HO MODEL.

' N0- 758,627. PATENTED MAY 3, 1904;

T. F. DOWNING. I

HOSE COUPLING. I APPLICATION rum) JAN. 16, 1904.

2 snnnr 2.

ODEL.

W www m- Patented May 3, 19o4.

PATENT GEEICE.

THOMAS F. DOWNING, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

HOSE-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 758,627, dated May 3,1904;. Application filed January 16, 1904. Serial No. 189,305. N0model-) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS F. DOWNING, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Hose-Couplings, of.which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in hose-couplings, especiallycouplings intended and adapted for use in coupling train-pipe hosebetween cars for conveying steam through a railway-train. It isarecognized factin this art that in order to preserve a tight jointbetween cars and to adjust itself to the differ- 'ences andirregularities in motion between the adjoining ends of cars, as well,also, as to provide an element of flexibility which shall compensate forany inaccuracy in the fit between coupler-heads, that the coupler-headsshould be provided with what is commonly termed a rocking gasket, bywhich is meant a gasket which isseated in a seat of spherical section insuch a manner that the correspondingly-shaped gasket may rock withinsuch seat.

The object of my invention is to provide a coupler-head with a rockinggasket which may be readily inserted and removed, which shall be seatedin such a manner as to offer no obstruction to the steam-passage throughthe coupler-head, and which shall be seated in an inexpensive and yetsubstantial. and durable manner. These and such other objects as mayhereinafter appear are attained by the devices shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a couplerheadprovided with one form of my invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontallongitudinal section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1 looking in the directionindicated by the arrows. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of a modifiedform of my device. Fig. 4: is an end view of the coupler shown in Figs.1 and 2, showing the couplerarm in section. Fig. 5 is an end view of thecoupler shown in Fig. 3, showing the couplerarm in section. Fig. 6 is aside elevation of another modification of my invention. Fig. 7 is alongitudinal section on the line 7 7 of Fig. 6 looking in the directionindicated by the arrows. Fig. 8 is a view on the line 8 8 of Fig. 6looking in the direction indicated by the arrows, and Fig. 9 is a detailof a modification.

Like letters of reference indicate similar parts in the several figuresof the drawings.

A is the body of a coupler, provided with a neck B, adapted to beconnected with the usual section of flexible hose leading to thetrain-pipe.

C is the coupling-arm, adapted to interlock with the undercut lug D onthe opposite coupler.

The coupler-head A and neck B are provided with a steampassage Eextending therethrough. As usually constructed the coupler-head isprovided also with a brass bushing F, which is provided adjacent to itsouter end with the gasket-seat. This gasket-seat is spherical or, moreproperly, is concaved to fit a section of a sphere.

Within the gasket-seat so provided is seated the gasket H, which isconvexed externally in the form of a section of a sphere and ispivotally secured in place by two pins or supports which project abovethe'face of the gasket-seat. These pins are preferably mounted so as toproject laterally, one of the pins, 1, being most conveniently in theform of a permanently-mounted stud, the other pin, J, being movablymounted and preferably held in place by springpressure-as, for instance,by the spring-arm K, of which it constitutes an extension.

The spring-arm K is protected by ribs 5 b, which extend longitudinallyof the couplerhead and which also serve to reinforce the coupler-head ata needed point. The springarm is further confined between the ribs I) bby a bridge 0, which extends across and is secured to the ribs 6 b, asshown in Figs. 1 and 4:-

In the constructions shown in Figs. 1 and 2 preferably the gasket H isprovided With recesses for receiving the projecting ends of the pins IJ, although this is not essential, because in seating the gasketthe pinsI J can be forced into the material which is commonly used for suchgaskets. This material is usually what is called Jenkins composition,which expands and becomes somewhat plastic under a high temperature.

With the gasket provided with suitable recesses for receiving the pins IJ and with the projecting end of the pin J formed with a beveled orrounded surface the gasket H is readily seated by fitting the pin I inthe recess provided for it and swinging the gasket back upon the centeror hinge so provided and into its seat, whereupon as the rounded surfaceof the gasket comes in contact with the projecting end of the pin J thepin J will be raised against pressure of the spring-arm K until the pinJ comes opposite the recess provided for it, whereupon it will be forcedby the tension of the spring into said recess and the gasket will besecurely clamped in position. It will thus be seen that the gasket isfirmly and pivotally secured at two opposite points upon its periphery.

WVith the preferred construction the gasket and its seat are exactly onthe lines of a section of a sphere, and the pins I J are locateddiametrically opposite each other. With the gasket so mounted it will beseen that it will freely look within its seat upon the pivotal supportsI J, will readily adapt itself to any vertical motion of the cars, andin the coupling of the complementary parts of the coupler it will adaptitself to any inexactness in fit between the couplers.

To remove the gasket, it is only necessary to retract the pin J againstthe pressure of the spring-arm K, whereupon the gasket may be freelywithdrawn.

In the modification of myinvention shown in Figs. 3 and 5 I havesubstituted a separate spring-arm K for the spring-arm K and a separatebutton-headed pin J in place of the pin J, which in Fig. 2 is shown asbeing integral with the spring-arm K. In this modified form I have alsoshown the stop L cast on the coupler head to limit the outward movementof the spring-arm K.

In the modification shown in Figs. 6, 7, and 8 in place of the pin J, Iuse a spring-pressed pin J which is held in place by a helical spring K,which surrounds the pin J and abuts against a collar adjacent to theinner end thereof, said spring being held in position by a sleeve M,which is in the form of a hollow stud threaded into the coupler-head.

Obviously these modifications are merely suggestive of various ways ofembodying my invention, which consists, primarily, in supporting arocking gasket within a suitable seat in a coupler-head by means ofpivotal pins mounted in the coupler-head and projecting into theperiphery of the gasket, at least one of said pins being removable. Itis clear, therefore, that various changes in detail may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

In Fig. 9 the bushingG is omitted, the gasket-seat and gasket arecylindrical, and the gasket H is provided at one side with an integralprojection la, which engages a corresponding recess in the coupler-headA, the opposite side of the gasket being held by a spring-pressed pin Jas in Fig. 3.

It will thus be seen that myinvention is not necessarily limited to theuse of a composition gasket. nor to the use of a concave gasket-seat ora convex-surfaced gasket, that a separate bushing for the gasket-seat isnot essential, and that the coengaging recesses and projections upon thecoupler-head and the gasket may be arranged in various ways withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

I claim- 1. The combination with a couplerhead provided with agasket-seat, of a gasket adapted to and arranged to rock upon said seat,and means for movably securing said gasket to its seat, said meanscomprising a projection extending from the coupler-head into saidgasket, said projection being movable in a direction to disengage saidgasket.

2. The combination with a coupler-head provided with a gasket-seat, of agasket adapted to said seat, means for securing said gasket to its seat,said means comprising a pair of projections extending from thecoupler-head into the gasket, one of said projections being movable in adirection to disengage said gasket,

and means for yieldingly holding said movable projection in contact withsaid gasket.

3. The combination with a coupler-head provided with a gasket-seat, of agasket adapted to said seat, and means for movably retaining the gasketin said seat, said means comprising a pair of pins mounted diametricallyopposite to each other and extending into said gasket, and a springarranged to hold one of said pins in movable contact with said gasket.

4. The combination with a coupler-head provided with a substantiallyhemispherical gasket-seat, of a gasket comprising substantially asection of a sphere, means for securing said gasket to its seat, saidmeans comprising a pair of pins projecting from the coupler-head andadapted to engage the gasket at points upon diametrically opposite sidesof the sphere from which the gasket is pro duced, one of said pins beingmovable in a direction to disengage said gasket, and means for holdingsaid movable pin in engagement with said gasket, all so arranged thatsaid gasket may rock within its seat.

5. The combination with a coupler-head provided with a concave seatadapted to substantially fit a section of a sphere, of a gasket formedsubstantially of a section of a sphere and adapted to said seat, meansfor securing said gasket to said seat, said means comprising a pair ofpins projecting from said seat at points on diametrically opposite sidesthere- TIC of and adapted to pivotally engage said gasket at points ondiametrically opposite sides thereof, at least one of said pins beingmovable in a direction to disengage said gasket, and means foryieldingly holding said movable pin in operative engagement with suchgasket,

6. The combination with a coupler-head provided with a gasket-seat, ofmeans for securing a gasket to said seat, said means comprising aprojection extending inwardly from said coupler-head in a position toengage a gasket when seated upon said gasket-seat, and anoppositely-disposed, yieldingly-mounted, projection also extendinginwardly from said coupler-head in a position to engage said'g'asketwhen seated upon said gasket-seat.

7 The combination with a coupler-head provided with a gasket-seat, of agasket adapted to said seat and provided with a convex surface, meansfor holding said gasket in its seat, said means comprising a projectionextending inwardly from the coupler-head at points adapted to engagesaid gasket when seated, a second projection extending in like mannerfrom the gasket-seat and provided with a rounded or tapered surfaceadapted to engage the convex surface of the gasket, and means foryieldingly holding said second projection in looking engagement with thegasket.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination with acoupler-head provided with a gasket-seat and provided with parallel ribsupon one face thereof, of a spring-arm mounted between said ribs andsecured at one end to said coupler-head, and a gasket-locking pinextending through the coupler-head, said gasket-locking pin beingyieldingly held in looking position by the free end of the spring-arm.

THOMAS F. DOWNING.

Witnesses: I

O'r'ro R. BARNETT, G. Y. DANKWARD.

